Samsung Captivate Problems

Samsung Captivate Problems

Trying Captivate after being Iphone user. Have done two factory resets. Besides the GPS not locking, slow to lock, and lossing lock, my biggest complaints are: 1) Slow screen scrolling 2) Yahoo mail app freezes or won't load at all. Yes have tried uninstall and reinstall. I wish email app on bottom bar would let you put in multiple email accounts. I have 2 Bellsouth.net and 1 gmail. 3) When holding phone in 1 hand and turning on or off, I have trouble NOT hitting the volume buttons. 4) When phone is in pocket, and slightest pressure is on any external buttons, the phone won't ring. It's the same as if you pressed button on incomming call to mute ringtone. 5) Sometimes if phone is off and want to turn on, holding power button does nothing. Will repeat several times until it finally turns on. 6) Settings, About Phone, System Tutorial, Begin button went to program once. Now nothing. This is even after factory reset. 7) Touch screen calibration seems to be off. Maybe only a few mm. But that enough to hit wrong icon. or url. There are more, but I will keep post short.

This complaint is petty, but it drives me nuts. Time on Splash screen. 24hr ( Military ) or 12 hr. I have set to 12 hr. Instead of saying 1:37pm, the clock will say 01:37pm. Come on Samsung. Get rid of the zero before the 1. Military would be 13:37.

Re: CAPTIVATE Shuts off randomly

brownma, there are several things that have worked for various people with this issue, but no one-size-fits-all fix. Most phones with the issue are most likely to power off when the phone is in power save mode with a fully charged battery, so some of the tricks rely on that.

Here are some of the things that have helped others:

1. Do a factory restore. This will erase all your data, so make sure anything important is backed up. If it works, this is a true fix and not merely a workaround.

2. Do a factory restore and don't re-download any marketplace apps. Use the phone for a while (maybe a few days) in a clean state. Then if you previously had any apps, re-download them one at a time, and use the phone in between each install. If you start to have the problem again, remove the last app or two. If it works, this is a true fix and not merely a workaround.

3. Use a task killer or task manager if you aren't using one, or don't use one if you are using it, or use one with different settings than what you're currently using. Many people recommend Advanced Task Killer. I prefer something like Watchdog that notifies me of misbehaving tasks and gives me the option of killing, rather than killing automatically. If it works, this may be a true fix.

4. When you remove the phone from the charger, do something that drains the battery a bit. This is not a fix. It's a workaround that you can try until you can get the phone replaced.

5. Turn off power management so the phone never sleeps. The phone will use much more battery power, but it may avoid powering off. This is not a fix. It's a workaround that you can try until you can get the phone replaced.

6. Use a market app called Captivate Keep Alive. I don't know much about it, but from what little I've read I believe it turns off power management when the battery is full (and the phone most likely to turn off) and turns it back on when the battery is drained somewhat. If that's correct, then it essentially gives the benefit of (5) but doesn't kill the battery life as much. This is not a fix. It's a workaround that you can try until you can get the phone replaced.

7. Replace the phone. If you bought the phone 5 days ago, you still have time to try the potential fixes and still be within the 30-day retail exchange period. Within that period, contact the retailer from which you obtained the phone.

I think that pretty much covers the options (aside from AT&T warranty or Samsung warranty after 30 days). Does anyone want to fill in anything I missed?

I am an AT&T employee and the postings on this site are my own and don’t necessarily represent AT&T’s positions, strategies or opinions.

Re: Samsung Captivate Problems

I have not had a chance to have any of these problems. After just a week of owning the phone it started turning it's self off usually 3 to 4 times a day. After complaining several times I was sent a used phone even though I paid for a new one. Now that used one is turning off and Im having to go through the same hassle to get another phone shipped to me again. I have lost all of my ring tones and apps twice during their trouble shooting process.

Every time I have bought a phone from at&t I have had a problem with it and was sent a used phone in its place. I will never buy another phone from at&t and will be changing my service provider. AT&T does not seem to realize there is 2 sides to a contract. The provider has to provide the equipment and service that was promised when the contract was singed. I have not gotten either so AT&T broke my contract so they should be sending me a check for the early termination fee.

Re: Samsung Captivate Problems

I have been suffering through many of the problems listed here

1) Frequent shutdowns. I (almost)always put my phone to sleep by using the power button before I put it down. Sometimes I put in my belt holder, sometimes on a desk. Shutdowns occur either way. I have not made a note of the phone being (close to) fully charged or not. I will keep an eye on the battery charge vs. shutdown issue more closely.

2) Phone is frequently quite "laggy". Pressing things (like the back or home or various screen icons) does nothing. Thinking I "missed" the key(s) I press them again. Then phone eventually reacts to all the presses. Ugh.

3) Had my phone plugged in to charge it the other day and it got really hot. The charge indication after an hour did not seem reasonable (~39%) for the amount of time (just over an hour) it was plugged in but I suppose that it *could* be correct.

4) Not mentioned in the thread so far is this issue: I lose icons from the home pages regularly. I have a couple of free kiddie games apps and I've dragged them onto the last of the several "home" screens and some of them disappear everytime I power the phone down and back up (one is a Toy Story puzzle).

5) Another issue I have not seen: In my opinion, "backing" out of the browser should shut that app down (as it does for (all/most) other apps). It does not. It's always "alive" when looked at in a "Task Manager" app.

Re: Samsung Captivate Problems

One thing I did notice is that the fraction of people experiencing 'real' problems (:like random shutdowns) is very low. I did have a ton of issues, but everything got sorted out through some Googling.

Having said this, I have recently become a strong advocate of rooting your phone, and if needed, installing any one of the dozen or so custom ROMs specifically designed for the Captivate. Let's say.... a friend did it, voiding his warranty, but getting incredible performance and agility in return.

Here's my logic:

1. AT&T and Samsung's support for the phone goes little beyond replacing your new phone with a used one and being annoyed that that didn't work,

2. Tech support at both companies, while reasonable, isn't nearly as good as the Android fanboys online (myself included).

3. There is a TON of support at forums like XDA and Reddit's Android page, staffed by people like me, who've experienced literally EVERY problem with the phone; and in most cases, have resolved them.

Be aware: If you root your phone, you will void your warranty.

Be also aware: You can Un-root your phone: all 'rooting' does (when you follow instructions on the forums) is it dumps a few files that gives you access to the phone's innards. (Linux users can relate to the 'sudo' command, or Superuser command: that power and security). My 'friend' took a month considering all of this before entering the dark side.

My friend was embarrased when he realized the extent of support the rooting community offers and at the possiblity of unrooting your phone if necessary at some point in the future (say you physically damage your phone and need to return it: rooting doesn't heal physical damage .)

Re: Samsung Captivate Problems

You seem to know a lot about this phone. I just got a refurb and it powers off a few times a day without me touching it at all. I'm technologically dumb, so I don't know if this can be fixed or if I should return the phone. Any thoughts?

Re: Samsung Captivate Problems

Yeaaaaaah... that is a problem with some Android phones - mine had that issue a while ago, until it simply disappeared. You could do two things:

1. Get the phone replaced and hope that the new one has no software glitches or bugs.

2. Download the app called "Captivate Keep Alive" from the Android Marketplace. It prevents your phone from shutting down when it goes below a certain battery level.

I would suggest #2 for now; if your new phone has the same issue, you are going try this method anyway. Set it up and have it running in the background (it does show an icon on the tray) and hopefully it will work for you. You may need to adjust the settings; it isn't intimidating at all. But I haven't used it for a while.

Eventually, the issue just goes away like an irritating tooth ache and you won't notice it, like it did for me.

Re: Samsung Captivate GPS Problems

Here is a semi-fix. This trick will prevent your phone from shutting down but will decrease battery life somewhat.

1. Download "Load Monitor" from the Android Market.

2. Once installed, open the Load Monitor app.

3. Click on the Menu Button and Select Preferences.

4. Check the following Items:

Add Notification

Auto Start

Wake Lock

Only screen on

5. Go to "Update interval" and select 5 Minutes.

6. Although the Auto-start assures the app runs everytime you reboot your phone, if it ever shuts off, start the app manually; though you should haven't to do this step too many times.

Load Monitor keeps your phone from shutting down by preventing suspend via wake lock setting and by actively monitoring your load, the phone is always doing something. The main reason these phones shut-off is due to the processor going into suspended mode whenever it is not being used much and then it shuts off once it hasn't been used long enough. This trick worked for me, can't gurantee everyone but very good chance it will work.

Re: Samsung Captivate Problems

Whoa, after reading through all 9 pages of this Thread, we have a lot of users out there not happy with Captivate, just throw two more of them in the ring, that would be my Mrs and myself.

Bought two Captivates in November 2010, were happy for a while, then we start receiving a lot of "Force Stops". There really has not been a lot of help fom Samsung or at&t.

at&t did some software updates today about 1 hour ago, do not know what it did because in the middle of the update I got a "Force Stop" error, but the phone did boot in the root directory and restarted and said "update successful"

How many "resets" are required for the Captivate to work smoothly?

Just like the Froyo update, where is it, looks like most of the carriers have it except at&t.

[Per Guidelines: Keep it Relevant and Appropriate].Consumer reports in November 2010 also had bad reviews about at&t as a wireless company. There needs to be a lemon law against wireless companys that would protect the end users with the warranty.

I have been with at&t for almost 10+ years, this is the first time I have gotten the run around. Most of the at&t supports techs have a book to read and simply have set standard answers for the most common issues. I do not blame them either.

It is at&t (The CEOs and the Big Wigs) that is letting down the customers that made the company.

Hopefully we will get Froyo when the world will be getting Gingerbread. Looks like we are not getting Froyo this Christmas because today is the day after Christmas.

Re: Samsung Captivate Problems

This problem is unavoidable when a manufacturer (Samsung) introduces a product that hasn't been tested fully (Captivate) to make some quick bucks and rely on a third-party operation system (Android) to run the device. It's the same scenario as a PC vs. MAC. However, the culprit here is AT&T. Fair of not, since AT&T brands the phone and provides the service, it has the ultimate responsibility to rectify any issues. Stop collecting money and leave your frustrated customers hanging. Come up with a software fix quick!

Re: Samsung Captivate Problems

I have given up on any company/service provider to deliver updates/options in a timely manner I bought my Captivate specifically because of how easy it was to modify aside from a few minor hardware glitches GPS/shutdown(which happens rarely since I applied many of the workarounds) I would not trade my phone for anything it is not perfect(name 1 perfect phone) but from what I've seen that doesn't cost over $500 it is the absolute best phone for my needs ATM.

I am an AT&T employee and the postings on this site are my own and don’t necessarily represent AT&T’s positions, strategies or opinions.